Months of dedication unleashed as three inspirational women gear up to race with heart in the Nagoya City Marathon and Nagoya Women's Marathon this weekend
Team Singapore and New Balance athlete Vanessa Lee, together with lifestyle and fitness influencer Shannon Taylor Wong will be racing the Nagoya City Half-Marathon, while running enthusiast and content creator Melissa Foo will be taking on the Full Marathon in the Nagoya Women’s Marathon as the three women, together with a wider Singapore travelling contingent finally arrived in the vibrant city of Nagoya.
The trio are gearing up for their respective races as part of New Balance's 'Run Your Way' Campaign, and spent their first day in the city differently - heading out for runs and taking on different experiences.
After landing, they decided to take a walk in the cool weather, staying awake with some hot coffee and enjoying tasty ramen to keep warm. The group then stayed energised and quickly moved on to explore the area around the hotel after checking-in, running to build momentum for their big day, or 'Race Day' as we call it, on March 10 this Sunday.
New Balance's 'Run Your Way' philosophy, focused on breaking stereotypes and celebrating individuality in running, takes centre stage in this collaboration feature with Nagoya City Marathon, as SportPlus.sg delves into how this approach aids individuals in race preparation.
Approaching their race day, we take a final look into their journey. With just days left until the big race in Nagoya where the city is expected to come to life, we aim to uncover insights into their training, motivation, goals, race strategy, experiences, expectations, community support, and their current emotional state.
How are you feeling now that you've reached Nagoya?
Melissa: I’m feeling pretty excited and I love the weather here, it’s cold but not too cold. Nagoya is also pretty quiet compared to bigger cities like Tokyo and I’m loving the small town vibes.
Shannon: I think now that I've reached Nagoya, I feel the adrenaline rush in a sense that it’s finally time. I've been training for so long, I've been training for months. So I feel a bit of excitement as well as nervousness because I guess this run/trip actually proved to me that training paid off.
Vanessa: I'm tired but excited at the same time! It was a short flight so didn’t get much sleep but really looking forward now that we've finally arrived in Nagoya.
What specific challenges did you face during your training, and how did you overcome them?
Melissa: My biggest challenge would have to be falling sick during the last 3 weeks of my training. It’s been tough trying to balance recovery and still keeping up with training, and the weather also got pretty rainy toward the end which meant running in the rain as well. I guess it helps having friends to push me during those long runs!
Shannon: I think it’s the mental aspect whereby if i’m running a long distance, i will feel very tired or bored halfway and i feel like that is something i haven't overcome yet. But so far what i do that helps, is listening to music or just meditating during my runs so it’s not too bad.
Vanessa: It was more difficult to run longer intervals because I don’t have a group to run this specific pace with and I didn’t manage to do so cause my mental strength cannot take running long intervals alone. I kept my weekly mileage high and hopefully that’ll be enough to bring me through endurance wise.
Do you have specific goals or expectations for this race?
Melissa: I wanted to complete the marathon in under 4 hours but considering I’m still recovering I’ve adjusted my target to completing within the cut off time and just enjoying the sights!
Shannon: I’m hoping to get between 2 hours to 2 hours 10 minutes. But at the same time, I'm trying to remind myself that I should be having fun during my half marathon considering this is going to be my first one.
Vanessa: I’m hoping to get a personal best. Find a group, run with friends, the competitiveness drives you and motivates you to finish the workout. The conditions at Nagoya are much better than Singapore, so I'm optimistic that I'll run a good time.
How do you stay motivated during long training sessions and the actual race?
Melissa: I break down my long runs into fartlek intervals (for example, 4 sets of 4 km at race pace followed by 1km of recovery jog) so that psychologically it’s easier when I have a “break” to look forward to.
I also try to run with friends even if it means just meeting them halfway. Having various “checkpoints” where I meet up with friends also gives me the motivation to continue.
Shannon: The race is coming up and it's a chance for me to prove to myself that I am able to finish this 21.1km run. Running with New Balance Run Club was my motivation during trainings, but finishing the actual race has got to be my greatest motivation.
Vanessa: Staying focused on my goal is my biggest motivation.
How do you plan to pace yourself throughout the race?
Melissa: I plan to be more conservative at the beginning since I’m still recovering and seeing how I feel after 15km before deciding if I can speed up, otherwise I intend to maintain more or less the same pace throughout.
Shannon: I’m planning to run at a controlled pace for the first 15km. Maybe 6 mins/km. After which for the final few km I will try to speed up a little bit, maybe a 5.30 or 5. See if I'm able to meet my goal.
Vanessa: Probably just go out at 3.50min/km and try to hold the pace, find a group to follow and what not. A lot of these things have to be played by ear during the run itself but I’m definitely trying for a personal best.
What are you looking forward to the most about the Nagoya Marathon now that you reached Nagoya?
Melissa: Of course the finisher medal is the Tiffany and Co necklace for the Nagoya Women’s (Full) Marathon.! I think it’s a pretty unique memento.
Shannon: I’m looking forward to completing my half marathon the most. It only makes sense if I’m able to complete my run.
Vanessa: The food, it’s Japan!
How has the running community contributed to your preparation for the Nagoya Marathon?
Melissa: Joining various running groups to get through my easy runs and tempo runs where the pace is set definitely helps! It would be too easy to slow down or take more breaks during long runs as well but my running friends have helped to push me through them.
Shannon: The running community such as the New Balance Run Club honestly helped me so much in terms of preparation because they motivated me by helping me with my training schedules. Some people gave me a lot of advice in terms of how I should train, what kind of pacing I should keep up, what kind of gels I should be consuming for the run etc.
Also to have a community like minded people who have taken part in the marathon before. Just there to give you advice and moral support, to give you real life proof that these people have run their half marathon or full marathon and so can you.
Vanessa: Doing my runs with friends make me look forward to runs more as I hate running alone. Having my teammates with me to push me particularly during hard runs makes it more mentally bearable and helps us to complete training sets together.
3 words to describe how you are feeling right now.
Melissa: Happy, excited and nervous.
Shannon: Excited. Nervous. Really grateful.
Vanessa: Cold. Excited. Goofy.
